Synthetic Creations By Man Is Destroying Its Own Home Essay

Water scarcity is increasing worldwide and dramatically affecting first world nations such as Spain, Australia, and the United States. All nations are now starting to recognize that the world's water is a finite resource, and that resource is being drastically altered in both availability and quality by development, climate change and population growth. In the United States, the Colorado River is experiencing rapid declines in volume. Recent studies and data suggest that the changes in frequency, intensity, and timing of the availability of water will have substantial impact on the way we live our lives in the 21st century and beyond. As Letmathe Brakeck said, “I am confident that, under present

The State of Colorado has suffered from a water shortage in recent years; a difficult situation which is easily visible when viewing the quickly shortening length of the Colorado River. Lake Mead, for example, is roughly 130 feet lower than it once was, marked by the stained rock which towers above the current water level. “The river has become a perfect symbol of what happens when we ask too much of a limited resource: it disappears. In fact, the Colorado no longer regularly reaches the sea” (Zielinski, 2010). Legislation was implemented early on to address this issue, though the results were (perhaps not surprisingly) rather unanticipated, regarding

One of the largest geographic physical structures in the United States is the Colorado River. Human activity and its interaction with this great river have an interesting history. The resources provided by the river have been used by humans, and caused conflict for human populations as well. One of these conflicts is water distribution, and the effects drought conditions have played in this distribution throughout the southwestern region. Major cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other communities in the southwest depend on the river. It provides water for over 20 million people, irrigation for 2 million acres of land, four thousand megawatts of hydroelectric energy, and over twenty million annual visitors for

As previously mentioned, the Colorado River compact was written and signed during abnormally wet climate cycles [4]. When the climate cycled back into the more traditional drier climate during the mid-twentieth century, the river no longer made it to the Gulf of California. While this was not an immediate concern as water levels remained well above the critical elevation, recent global warming trends have played a major role in the decline water supply in the Colorado River Basin. Over the past 15 years, the Colorado River Basin has experienced declining annual precipitation rates and higher temperatures throughout the year, which has cascade into higher evaporative loads from the soil and reservoirs, longer growing seasons that require more water, earlier melting times, all of which have reduced runoff and water supply [10]. In addition to the environmental factors, the differing conservation policies, water costs, and infrastructure planning across the basin state has contributed to water consumption that is above the basin’s renewable supply [14]. States like Nevada enforce strict that limit residents use via strict conservation policies, while states like California and Colorado use their senior water rights to maximum legal consumption and are planning to construct larger dams to

Since the settlement of the Lake Tahoe Basin people have deforested mountain sides, and killed almost all natural life within the waters. Just as the Lake Tahoe area has felt the

Yet, humans have limited control on natural events, so this only reinforces the importance of managing water wisely. Recently California’s government has begun to focus more on sustaining and restoring the water supply. Dale Kasler (2016) articulates in his article some of the steps they have decided to make to solve this serious issue. The government has made the following investments: “$415 million for watershed restoration and other environmental aid for Lake Tahoe; up to $335 million for two proposed reservoirs in California, including the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento; $880 million for flood-control projects on the American and Sacramento rivers in Sacramento; and $780 million for flood-control projects in West Sacramento” (para. 10). This could be the first step to restoring the water to California. But these

The California Gold Rush had a positive impact on California’s environment in many different ways, but along with the positives came the negative impacts. In 1848, people flocked to California in hope to make their gold filled dreams come true and strike it big, but with the more people moving to California, the more the population rose, leaving destructive effects on the state’s environment then and for the years to come. California’s physical environment was shaped not only by the influx of people, but also the manmade structures they added and how they manipulated the state’s land to embrace the large population that wasn’t there before the Gold Rush hit.

In the book The Big Thirst, Charles Fishman addresses the key issues of how water is abused in areas, like Las Vegas, and the era of “easy” water is over. Fishman explains where the largest amount of water is located and water’s presence in space. His book is mainly composed of case studies showing how water in certain areas, like Las Vegas and India, has been dwindling and the absence of preparation in those places when the water is almost gone. Lastly, he talks about the misconceptions of tap water and the lack of understanding communities and people in power have about the future of water. Fishman wants the reader to be crystal clear on how water has come to this point, the issues of water shortages, and the solutions to water problems.

Southern Nevada has developed hydropower projects, which generates electricity whilst the water passes through the pipes. The NDEP (Nevada Division of Environmental Protection) initiated environmental cleanup programs to clean up contaminations. To protect ground water, communities adopt strategies to protect these areas by keeping the thought of stopping contaminations in their heads. Also, the

Especially in the area around the Great Basin, since that covers most of the state. This area is surrounded by the mountain ranges and gets all the run off . This water helps with the water shortage throughout the year but at the time it is too much for the area to handle as there is no drainage to the ocean from this area. Groundwater is used throughout the state. Sometimes, the water is pumped out faster than it can be replenished. When this happens, the land surface can be affected. There are many cracks in the ground near Las Vegas, and in some places the land has sunken in over six feet within the last sixty years. An increase in the population of the state is to blame for the increased demand on the groundwater and therefore, the increased damage being done to the landscape as a whole. More people, more water, more land being developed, means less of the natural preservers being available. Also, with these floods the state sees landslides. The rocks of the area show the different ways the terrain was built

Now Arizona is not the typical state that has a lot of precipitation and rain yearly, but it depends off other reservoirs, lakes, and rivers located in other states to for their water supply. After searching and conducting research, it was found that the main impact Arizona is suffering from the drought is decreasing water levels is from Lake Mead (located in Nevada), and the Colorado River, which flows North to South through several U.S. states. Research and data found shows that the Bureau of Reclamation releases water into the Colorado River below Lake Mead to meet water demands of downstream users in Arizona and California, and also to satisfy treaty obligations to the Republic of Mexico. Findings by the Bureau of Reclamation show that Lake Mead water level’s peaked at 1,214.26 in January of 2000. Almost a decade and a half later, recorded in January 2014, the water levels of Lake Mead are now 1,108.75 (Smith, 2014). This findings show that Arizona is continually getting a decline in water from Lake Mead every month that passes, affects thousands of residents living in Arizona, which already lacks water to begin with. If this continues, this can cause many civilians to both stand by and bare the drought as long as they can, or decide to move out of Arizona to states with a better water supply, so they won’t be burdened with the continual burden of having to ration and conserve water. The state has

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is part of the largest statuary on the West Coast of the United States. The Delta covers over 738,000 acres and is home to over 50 species of fish and almost 300 different kinds of mammal, reptile, and bird species (Lund, et al.) Moreover, the Delta is the largest source of water supply for the entire state, channeling water from Northern California to millions of acres of farmland in the Central Valley and to over 20 million residents in California (Holyoke). In its vicinity, the Delta supports agricultural, fishing, and recreational activities. In other words, the Delta is the jugular of California’s water system and the states’ entire economy and wellbeing is attached to it. With so much riding on the Delta, humans have re-engineer its natural fluvial shape to rip off benefits without thinking of future consequences.

“Sustainable” is defined by Dictionary.com as being “able to be supported as with the basic necessities or sufficient funds”. Can it be said that Las Vegas is sustainable? The sustainability of Las Vegas is a question that has been asked at different points in its history. In the early 20th century water sustainability was the crisis and this was solved by water being gotten from wells piped into town. In the 1950s atomic testing were advertised as a tourist attraction to tourists, providing locations to watch the testings and view the mushroom clouds (American Experience, 2005). This are just a few ways Las Vegas has defied the odds to prove that it is sustainable. Against all odds and when it looks like people are going to stop visiting the city, a new reason to return is created. Focusing on the economy of Las Vegas, using research papers, journals, news articles and various other sources, I would prove that Las Vegas is still sustainable even after the recession hit the economy of Vegas.

Specific purpose statement: To persuade my audience to take action in order to conserve one of the most finite and precious resources we have in the U.S.

When referring to Arizona’s water Kris Mayes, chairwoman of the state’s utility regulatory panel once said, “How do you say just how valuable water is in an arid state like Arizona?” she said. “It’s like the credit-card commercial-it’s priceless” (McKinnon). She was right, because in a dry state like Arizona, water is pretty important. To say water is ‘pretty important’ for the world is an understatement. We use water to function. And when we think of water we think of saving it. Keep the faucets from dripping or turn off the water while brushing your teeth. There are numerous tips for water conservation, but people don’t often think of the damage that is already done. Damages like ‘dead zones’. Dead zones in the ocean have been around for